If you are a hockey fan, I strongly urge you to star January 24th, 2023, on your calendars because the Arizona Coyotes will be facing the Anaheim Ducks. If you’re wondering why you should tune into this game, here’s what happened during the last three encounters between the Coyotes and Ducks.
April 1st, 2022: Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks scores a Michigan lacrosse goal on the Yotes. This marked the second time that Zegras scored a Michigan goal and he did not hide any of his excitement as he chirped fans, Coyotes players, and celebrated hard.
Late in the third period when the Ducks had a 5-0 lead over the Coyotes, a big scrum broke out after Vejmelka covered the puck and Zegras poked the goalie to free the puck. Zegras was cross-checked by former-Coyote Jay Beagle before Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks came in to help Zegras. Unfortunately, Beagle went off on Terry, and Terry sustained unfortunate facial injuries. There are multiple ways to interpret this incident. Some people may argue that Beagle’s actions were unwarranted. On the other hand, some people contend that Zegras displayed a lack of hockey etiquette because of his Michigan lacrosse goal, unnecessary mockery, and poking at the goalie during a 5-0 game.
Sep 25th, 2022: A very tamed pre-season game. This game featured many prospects from both benches and a lack of NHL stars or regulars.
September 28th, 2022: Jan Jenik delivered a big, clean hit on Zegras. This hit ultimately caused Zegras to leave the game and he is no day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The hit also made this pre-season game more feisty as the game featured a combined total of 106 PIMs from both and three fights, two from Jenik and the other from Nick Ritchie.
A lot of bad blood seems to be brewing between the Coyotes and Ducks, mostly because of Zegras which makes everything a lot spicier. The closest thing to a rivalry that the Coyotes ever had was with the LA Kings in 2012 when they faced off against each other in the Western Conference final but that was short-lived. A Coyotes-Ducks rivalry will be very beneficial for Arizona because it will only attract more fans, garner more attention for the team, grow the game of hockey in the desert, and give fans something to eagerly look forward to.
The Morning Skate 